Some people assume that it is nearly impossible to train any animal, besides a dog, to do any kind of tricks. But, in truth, even guinea pigs can be trained to do certain tricks, as long as they are physically able to do so. Training a guinea pig is very rewarding if done correctly, and builds a special bond with your pet that lasts a lifetime. Read on to discover how to train your guinea pig to do tricks.

Steps

Method1

Preparing Your Guinea Pig to Train

1

Build a trustworthy bond with your piggy. Having a stable relationship with an animal makes them so much easier to train. If your guinea pig doesn't trust you, or thinks of you as a scary giant that comes to try and communicate all of the time, it will be more difficult to teach. The trust of an animal is a very fragile thing.

Think of it as if you are a mountain climber, trying to climb the mountain of training. The peak is success, and the rope that you depend on to get you to the top is the relationship with the animal you wish to train. Would you rather have a weak rope - aka a weak relationship - or a stronger, more dependable one? If you choose the weak rope, and it snaps, you'll come tumbling back down to where you started. The strong rope has a better chance of holding up, though, be aware that if you are constantly tampering with the rope, even the strongest has a chance of breaking.

If you aren't sure of your current relationship with your pet, it is best to keep working with them until they trust you enough to allow you to pick them up and pet them. This may take longer with skittish piggies, but never give up.

2

Research different training methods. Once your piggy is willing to trust you and do what you say, it's time to start looking into the many methods of training. Guinea pigs are very fragile, and their brains work a bit differently from a dog's, so every training method will need to be tweaked before use with a guinea pig.

Clicker training and verbal markers are a few ways to train your guinea pig. Clicker training is slightly easier than using a verbal marker, and requires a clicker, while using a verbal marker is more difficult and can have different results than what is expected.

3

Choose the training method that works best for you and your guinea pig. Some owners have different needs than others, and some animals need a specific type of training. As mentioned before, any training method chosen will need to be tweaked in many different ways to suit a guinea pig rather than a dog.

4

Gather the materials that you will need for training. Different methods require different materials. Some may need to be purchased, while others can just be found around the house. Training a guinea pig is not as expensive as training a dog, per se, but cost is made up in effort.

If you choose to clicker train your guinea pig, you will need a soft clicker-be sure that it is not too loud or sharp for a guinea pig's ears-and, of course, treats.

Treats that have worked well for many guinea pig owners include chopped up carrots, celery (with veins removed), and lettuce torn up into little pieces. Whatever the reward may be, always make sure that it is quick, chewable, and guinea pig-safe.

Method2

Training Your Guinea Pig to do Simple Commands

1

Condition your guinea pig to the clicker or verbal marker. To do this, put your guinea pig in a safe area-such as its cage-and click the clicker (or say the verbal marker). A second or so after clicking the clicker, give your guinea pig a treat. Repeat this several times until you think your guinea pig understands what the click, or marker, means.

Occasionally, this will take a long time. To see if your guinea pig is properly conditioned to the clicker or verbal marker, act normal for several minutes, talking and playing with the guinea pig, and then, suddenly click the clicker or say the marker clearly and firmly. If your guinea pig looks at you, expecting a treat, they have been properly conditioned and you can move on with training. If they keep about their business, they do not yet understand what the marker means and need to be worked with on conditioning a bit more. Don't be discouraged if your guinea pig does this.

2

Once your guinea pig is well conditioned to the clicker or verbal marker, begin to slowly ease them into performing basic commands. Skittish, hyper, stubborn, or impatient guinea pigs will be more difficult to train. It takes a lot of patience to get your guinea pig to learn a trick, and often times they will respond to a hand motion rather than a word-for example, if you were teaching your guinea pig to stand up, it would be easier for them to grasp if you held your finger over their head as an indication to do the trick in contrast to just saying "stand up!".

Many people, before beginning to train their guinea pigs, work on targeting. Teaching targeting to a guinea pig is quite simple-to do so, hold a finger or some kind of long stick somewhere a few inches away from your guinea pig and wait. As soon as they get near the finger or stick and touch it, click or say the marker and treat. Do this about twenty or thirty times, or until your guinea pig touches it efficiently several times in a row. This may make training much easier.

3

Begin teaching your guinea pig. There are several different methods, and some are easier than others. Try to get your guinea pig out for at least one 5-10 minute session each day. If either you or the pig become frustrated, treat and put them back in their cage for a little while.

Keep in mind that guinea pigs' brains work differently than a cat's or dog's, so they may not process information as quickly as a larger animal. Patience is key.

Method3

Teaching the "Stand up" Command

1

Place your guinea pig in a piggy-proof area that both of you are comfortable in. Ensure that there is nothing to pose a danger to your guinea pig, or you, and that there is nothing that your guinea pig can crawl under, save for a hidey house for them to retreat to if they feel the need.

Training inside the cage works just as well in the beginning, if your guinea pig is more comfortable in their cage. It will become harder to train inside the cage, however, as you move on to more advanced tricks that require equipment, such as climbing over things. Keep in mind that anything you do use for a trick, such as a hoop, must be adjusted to fit the needs of your piggy.

Remember that not all guinea pigs have the ability to focus on one task for more than a few minutes at a time, so changing up the training routine may help a guinea pig to learn more easily and not become bored.

2

Hold a treat - or, if your pig has learned targeting, a finger - above the guinea pig's head. Make sure that you are not holding it impossibly high, as the idea is to make your guinea pig stand up on its hind legs to receive the treat. Don't keep it too low either, or your pig may stand up, snatch the treat, and get away with it without learning anything. This could happen with any trick.

3

Once your guinea pig stands up on its hind legs, allow it to drop back down to all fours, and then click or use the verbal marker and treat. Praise your guinea pig as if they just did the hardest thing in the world, and then repeat.

Try to time the click or word so that the moment they drop back down, you perform the action. This will eventually lead to the mindset of your piggy being like this: Trick-->Click/Marker-->Treat-->Praise. It may take time for the guinea pig to realize this, but when they do, training is much easier.

When your guinea pig does this trick, make sure they do not stand up for too long, and allow them to lean on your hand for support if needed.

4

Continue to do this until your guinea pig does it correctly every time. The guinea pig may stand up on its hind legs without you giving them the motion, which is good-it shows that the guinea pig understands what it has to do to get the treat. However, it is important for them to wait for you to give the signal. If they stand up, just watch quietly, and when they finish, put the treat or finger over their head again. This part may take a while, and it may cause some confusion, but it is essential for your guinea pig to learn to wait for your command, and when they do, it's very rewarding.

Method4

Teaching "Spin around" or "Spin"

1

Get a small garbage can or round, cylinder-shaped object of some sort. It can be any color, and any type, as long as it could not potentially harm your guinea pig. Set it in the area you will be training in.

Be sure to turn it upside-down, so that your guinea pig will not knock it over as you begin to teach the trick. A garbage can that may have contained anything that could be harmful should not be used.

2

Place your guinea pig in the general area. Gently lift them out of their cage and set them down near the garbage can/other object. Allow the guinea pig to sniff around if they feel the need. Some may ignore it, but this does not mean that they won't do the trick-have patience.

3

Use a treat to lure your guinea pig to it. Hold out one of the treats and lure your guinea pig towards the garbage can. Move it slightly, further away and around it, until your guinea pig has completed a quarter of the circle. Click and treat.

Do this three or four times, until your guinea pig becomes comfortable with moving around it a bit.

4

Stand back and see if the guinea pig will try to go around on its own. Every time the guinea pig moves forward a few steps, reward them with a click(or verbal marker) and a treat. Gradually increase the amount of steps they take before receiving the treat.

Hopefully, your guinea pig will soon discover that moving around the garbage can does not go without rewards. Many will figure this out within a few minutes of doing that same thing, but if they don't, go back to luring and go on from there as many times as your guinea pig needs it.

5

Eventually, begin only treating your guinea pig when they make a full circle around the object. Some guinea pigs will pick this up faster than others, and that's okay. No piggy is perfect, no matter how intelligent they may be.

6

Begin enforcing a hand motion. The hand motion can be whatever you see fit, but I have found that holding a finger above the object, where the guinea pig can clearly see it, and moving it around in a circular motion. Saying the command "Around!" or "Spin!" may help as well, but verbal commands are more for the trainer than for the animal themselves.

From this point on, only treat your guinea pig when they walk around after your hand motion. If they do it without your motion, just sit patiently until they are done and ask them to do it afterwards. If they do it, treat and praise them immensely. It takes many guinea pigs a long time to understand this, but, if the trainer is persistent, it will be very rewarding in the end.

7

Take the garbage can away gradually. Once the guinea pig is very good at walking around the garbage can on your hand motion, put the can up somewhere and do the motion. This can be very easy, or very hard, depending on the piggy.

Method5

Moving on to More Advanced Tricks

1

Master the basics. You and your guinea pig will not reach the harder stuff without knowing everything that you should know about training first. First, work on targeting, conditioning your pig to the clicker, and doing simple tricks, such as "Stand Up".

2

Be creative. Just because a trick doesn't necessarily exist doesn't mean you can't teach it to your piggy anyway. Make up your own tricks, use your mind, and have fun with it! If you are both bored out of your minds, there is no point in training at all.

Make very low hurdles-no more than two inches off the ground at the most-and teach your guinea pig to jump over them, create a safe agility course, or use lures to train your piggy to jump through a hoop. The possibilities are endless!

3

Stay safe. I've said it once, I'll say it again; guinea pigs are much more fragile than the average dog or cat, so almost every trick meant for a larger animal must be adapted to suit the needs of a guinea pig.

Ensure that there is nothing to endanger your piggy before, during, or after training, or any other time. Take every needed safety precaution every time.

4

Take it beyond your home. While taking a guinea pig to shows to be judged by their fur color, pattern, and sleekness is not exactly everyone's cup of tea, it may be an option to do things with your guinea pig that involve training, showing off tricks, and meeting fellow guinea pig lovers.

Community Q&A

It's never too late to begin training! Even the oldest piggy can learn tricks, provided that they are taught in a way that is safe for that particular guinea pig. Young and elderly pigs may need some adjustments, but, unlike dogs, a two-month-old guinea pig would have just as much trouble with learning a trick as a seven-year-old. It mostly depends on the guinea pig.

Probably not. However, if your guinea pig trusts you as much as a loyal dog trusts its master, it might. Just try rolling it over gently and saying "Roll over." Your guinea pig will probably not like this trick, however, and, by all means, do not use danger to make your little friend roll over.

It depends how loud the clicker is and how often you give your guinea pig a treat when you click the clicker. If you use a quiet clicker, give it a treat when you're done, and use it often to get your guinea pig used to it, it will probably stop being scared. If it doesn't, try doing something else.